The following extracts are taken from pages 347-350 of In My Own Way, the autobiography of Alan Watts. *************** Ogata-sensei arranged to get us into Ryoanji -– The Temple of the Dragon Hermitage – after visiting hours, so that we could see the rock-and-sand garden in the stillness before twilight, when all the tourist and …Read More
Author: John Dougill (Page 14 of 45)
WiK Anthology 4 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS “STRUCTURES OF KYOTO”Edited by Rebecca Otowa and Karen Lee TawarayamaThe title refers to the many structures of Kyoto, including mental and cultural structures as well as physical ones. Call for Submissions: from June 1, 2020 RSVP: July 1, 2020 Deadline: October 1, 2020. Language: English. Original and unpublished material …Read More
WiK’s first ever Zoom event took place on May 23 at 4.00 pm with 18 participants in all, which was a good number considering the event was limited to WiK members only. Particularly pleasing was that we had participants from Scotland, Australia and Kamakura in addition to a speaker in Tokyo and an interviewer on …Read More
This is the second in a series of excerpts about Kyoto taken from the autobiography of Alan Watts, In My Own Way (1972). The passage below comes from the 2001 edition, p.345-6. ******************* That day we go down to Sanjusangendo, a long barn of a building which contains one thousand and one images of an …Read More
Cipangu, Golden Cipangu: Essays in Japanese History by Michael HoffmanVirtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2020, pp.298 Book Review by John Dougill Michael Hoffman’s literary and historical articles for The Japan Times have always come across as remarkably well-informed, remarkably well written too. It led me to read his first collection of miscellaneous pieces called In the Land of …Read More
The judges found that it was easy to step into the mind of the photographer. A moment of silence and contemplation is provided for the reader. ***************** Capturing the Zen Spiritby Michael H. Lester Since a bamboo grove is relatively open and airy, you can get lost in one only if you put your mind …Read More
WiK welcomes new member Rona Conti, known for her calligraphy. The passages below are extracted from a longer account, ‘Encounters with Brushes Part One‘. About Rona Conti Rona Conti is a painter and calligrapher whose artwork is represented in numerous public, private and corporate collections and museums in the United States and internationally. English editor …Read More
In his autobiography, In My Own Way(1972), Alan Watts writes of having a curious affinity with Japan even in his childhood. His early impressions were shaped by Lafcadio Hearn through Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (1894), and more substantially through Gleanings in Buddha-Fields (1897). The first marriage of Watts to the daughter of Ruth Fuller Sasaki …Read More
An intriguing blog entitled Ten Thousand Things from Kyoto carries an article suggesting that a chance encounter in Kyoto had world-changing repercussions. The meeting concerned Gary Snyder and Daniel Ellsberg, whose name is famous for the Pentagon Papers that in 1971 exposed US military decision-making in the Vietnam War and which played a decisive role …Read More
Before Lafcadio Hearn, there was Pierre Loti. The Frenchman is (in)famous in Japan for his 1887 novel, Madame Chrysantheme, which influenced the short story Madame Butterfly (1898) by John Luther Long. In collaboration with David Belasco, Long turned the story into a play, which in turn inspired Puccini to write his opera of the same …Read More
Kyoto Writing Competition
WiK Anthologies
The Nature of Kyoto (2023)
Eds. Lisa Twaronite Sone & Robert Weis
Foreword by Pico Iyer
Structures of Kyoto (2021)
Eds: Rebecca Otowa & Karen Lee Tawarayama
Foreword by Judith Clancy
Encounters with Kyoto (2019)
Eds: Jann Williams & Ian Josh Yates
Foreword by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Echoes (2017)
Eds: John Dougill, Amy Chavez, & Mark Richardson
Preface by Alex Kerr
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